I Won't Let You Fall
by Laura-Liz
Summary: Lara's searching through every book she has for something, but what? And why is Winston so worried? *SPOILERS!*


"Miss Croft? Miss Croft?" Winston poked his head round the door to find her immersed within a big fading book. Her eyes moved relentlessly across the pages, evidently searching for something she apparently missed. Winston watched her for a moment before coughing loudly.

Lara looked around, unfazed. "Winston. Is there something wrong?" She turned to face him, her eyes wary.

"I don't mean to interrupt you, miss, but if you carry on like this you'll waste away. What do you fancy for lunch?"

"Oh, I don't mind," she waved him away and turned back to her book. "Have you asked Alistair and Zip?"

Winston gave her a fatherly sort of look: "Yes. They're quite worried about you, shut up in here most of the day." He gestured round at the study, crammed with books about anything and everything that Lara had taken a fancy to, which was most things. At the moment, she was reading a particular heavy volume about Himalayan culture, meticulously scrutinising every word as if it could hold a clue to what she was searching for.

"I meant, did you ask them what they wanted to eat?" Lara asked, but a ghost of a smirk played on her lips despite herself.

Winston smiled, but it disappeared instantly as he saw she had delved once more into the book.

There was something familiar in this scene, and then he remembered what: Richard had done the very same after the disappearance of Amelia, searching fervently through every book he possessed, hoping to find a clue to her whereabouts. A then-young Lara had come into the room several times during the day while she was home from school, demanding he come down for dinner, but all Richard did was interrogate her for the description of the ornate stone dais. And when it was just him and the butler home, Winston had done all he could to persuade him to take a break but to no avail.

"Miss, what are you looking for?" Winston already knew the answer; there was only one thing which could drive Lara, something that had haunted her for so many years.

Lara sighed, and turning to Winston she quietly replied: "I've searched through almost every book in here about the Himalayan culture, and I can't find anything about that dais."

"Maybe the dais has not be discovered or written about," Winston shrugged. "We know nothing about history until we find something and record it."

"I refuse to believe that," Lara said sceptically. "It looked as if that stone dais had been there for centuries, and I just happen to stumble onto it by accident?"

"Things like that happen; Columbus accidently discovered America."

"Perhaps." She looked out of the window to see grey clouds looming over in the distance, like a foreboding sign. Winston could tell she didn't want to give up searching, as if a lantern had been passed when Richard died and that throwing that torch away would be an insult to her father and her mother. "I wish I never found that place."

Winston looked nervously away, unable to tell if this was one of those moments where his input would be helpful or intrusive. His first response would be that 'everything happens for a reason', but did he even believe that? Did he really believe that Amelia disappeared for a good reason?

He remained silent.

"She'd probably still be here if I didn't go wandering into that place," Lara scowled. "And my father's reputation wouldn't have been ruined."

Her voice was trembling; she was tired, and the fruitless research and memories had upset her. Winston felt a sudden urge to leave; he felt as if he was intruding upon something private, something that was obscene.

"And it's entirely my fault."

"Don't blame yourself, Miss; it could have happened to anyone. It was just unlucky that you stumbled across the dais."

For a moment, Lara glared down at the floor; her brow furrowed in what Winston thought was anger. He thought an outburst of fury would come, and he prepared himself to leave as quickly as possible.

"It had to be me though," she whispered, defeated, as her gaze softened to one of sadness. "I just want to find her, to say I'm sorry, to make things right again."

Winston hesitated, his hands clasped behind his back politely. Something hit him; perhaps he had been insensitive about the situation. He never thought how he would feel if he were in Lara's shoes, but he already knew without thinking in depth; he would want to make things right too. He had been with the Croft family for a while, and he felt connected to the family as if he were part of it.

"I think your father would have liked that."

Lara looked at him for only the second time since their conversation began, and smiled. "Thank you, Winston. I appreciate you looking out for me."

"Someone has to, Miss," he smiled and nodded. "But I really don't think your father would have liked it if I only tried once to get you down for lunch."

With some reluctance, Lara closed the heavy volume, stood up and stretched. "Maybe I'll take another trip down to the library tomorrow; there might be some books I overlooked."

Winston smiled again; she had the very defiance and persistence of Richard. Perhaps he could do a bit of reading to help her too; a task as large as this would be much smaller with one more person helping.

Before they left the room, however, the phone rang and Winston hurried to answer it.

"Good afternoon, Croft Manor."

"Hello, Winston. It's Anaya. Can I speak to Lara?"

"Of course," he replied down the receiver. "It is Miss Imanu." Winston handed the phone to Lara before walking out of the room to give her more privacy, expecting her to follow him down to lunch.

Half an hour later, as the food was cooking, Lara walked into the kitchen, her face looking flushed.

"Miss Croft-?"

"Anaya's found a stone dais! In Bolivia! I can't believe it! Maybe it's an exact copy of the one in the Himalayas! I must have a look as soon as possible!" Her eyes danced with exhilaration and she was smiling as if a ray of light had pierced the dark and seemingly impenetrable riddle.

Winston, who could not help but smile at Lara's happiness, gave a mock sigh and replied: "I suppose I'll pack your bags for Bolivia then, Miss."


End file.
